


Hang Your Halo At the Door

by Aireabella



Category: Thewalkingdead - Fandom, Twd - Fandom, bethyl - Fandom
Genre: F/M, bethyl au, bethyl smut week 2k20, bethylsmutweek2020, bethylsmutweek2k20
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-01
Updated: 2020-09-05
Packaged: 2021-03-05 22:55:34
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 15,081
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25623262
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aireabella/pseuds/Aireabella
Summary: Daryl was just staring to find himself when he got lost in her. Beth lost her way and thought she wasn’t ready to be found. Would it be one night only…?
Relationships: Daryl Dixon & Beth Greene, Daryl Dixon and Beth Greene, Daryl Dixon/Beth Greene, Daryl and Beth, Daryl/Beth, darylandbeth
Comments: 23
Kudos: 55





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> ~Author’s Note: Hey Everyone! Well, I’m trying out something new…something I’ve never done before but have always wanted to. I’ve never gotten around to writing something for a Summer of Bethyl/Bethyl Smut Week event on Tumblr, but this year one of the prompts inspired me, and I decided to dive in. If you are familiar with my other Bethyl fic posted here, “I Will Follow You Into the Dark”, I want to ensure that an update is coming shortly. While this fic is for Bethyl Smut Week 2020, it isn’t a one-shot, it is a multi-chapter fic that will probably have 6 chapters total. I just want to let you guys know that there won’t be any intimacy in the first two chapters…just putting that out there so it doesn’t feel like I am being a tease. I need a little time to establish Daryl and Beth before anything happens between them. I should have chapter 2 posted in a few days. I also feel like I am stepping a little bit outside my comfort zone because writing intimacy still makes me super self-conscious, and I am working with Beth and Daryl in a non-ZA/non-Zombie setting which I have never attempted. Please be gentle in judging my work. I would like to thank anyone who takes the time to read this fic and leave comments. I really appreciate it! Enjoy!~

_What the fuck!_

Sliding to a stop, throwing up the fresh oil and gravel comin’ into the cracked blacktop lot, Daryl swore under his breath. Foot down scraping on the pavement, turning, skidding to a stop so he didn’t rear-end the old truck parked right in the middle of everything left him cringing and bracing for a fall…gut feeling he was on the edge of going over.

“Dammit, Merle…” That he said, spittle flyin’ across his wind-chapped lips, so much rage, but there was no one to hear over his engine idling.

Merle must’ve had an early job…had to keep competitive in the market with all the chain garages and half-ass repair shops at the big box centers. Dixon Brothers Motors was on-call 24/7. Sadly, being good at what you did just wasn’t enough of an edge anymore. Merle’d been an insufferable prick ever since the last time he got picked up by the cops. Add in the fact that he was handling most the after hours calls…wouldn’t put it past him being a big-ass baby and parking a car right out front like that. Truth be told, maybe the near collision wasn’t all Merle’s fault. Daryl hadn’t actually been payin’ attention like he should, mind elsewhere and nowhere all at once. His morning ride to work was his escape…a secret joy…and he just planned to slip right into his parking spot out front like every other morning since he’d been makin’ the commute…since he finally started living his own life.

Daryl took a second to appraise the truck…trying to recapture his good mood. Truck was old…light blue Ford f-100, mid-60s model…not just old, would’ve been a classic if somebody sanded out some of the surface rust and gave it a nice paint job. Thinking on cars and bikes…fixing ‘em up, something he was good at always brought him back to center. 

“Hey! Watch it!” This day just kept gettin’ better and better. Just started movin’ again, tryin’ to get out of the way, and _she_ …the anonymous _she_ who was only a flurry of long, wavy blonde hair and a wispy skirt dartin’ between his bike and the bed of the truck.

Almost hit the little thing, but she didn’t so much as turn around and bat her eyelashes, no _sorry_ , _go to Hell_ , no nothing. Just scurrying past and hopping in the cab, the engine sputtering to life, and she pulled away, taking off down the equally cracked two-lane at the edge of town, not even looking back.

* * * * *

“Dar-Ryl!”

Daryl rolled his eyes, waiting for whatever Merle was gonna hassle him about as soon as he walked through the fucking door.

“I better not have just heard you skiddin’ into that driveway with MY bike! You treat her with respect, ya hear me? You treat her like a lady.” Merle growled from the office doorway, Daryl barely catching a glimpse of him while heading to the back.

“Pfft! Don’t park a damned car in the middle of the lot and we won’t have a problem,” Daryl shot back, full of vim and vigor and entirely fed up with having to deal with Merle’s most recent antics. “B’sides, you lost the right to worry about that bike since I had to bail your ass outta the county lock-up AND get your motorcycle outta impound.”

“Hmmph…” Merle was thinking on a comeback, Daryl hanging his vest in his locker, slamming the rusted-through door, and pulling on his coveralls. In the long moments of silence, he was never able to come up with one neither ‘cause it was all the truth, plain ‘n simple. But that didn’t mean Merle was gonna let him of easy. “Where you been all morning? Some of us been working while you been off joy-ridin’ through the countryside.”

Merle answered his own question…never was one much to let other people talk when he got going. 

“Ever since you moved out in the middle of nowhere, you been slackin’, boy! Ain’t got no work ethic.” Merle could complain all he wanted. Daryl only half-heard what he was saying, reflecting on his own newfound freedom.

Finally had the guts to stand up for himself a month or so back, tell Merle he needed to cut the cord, get a space of his own, and leave the rooms at the back of the garage they’d been sharing since they opened the shop up a couple years back. It was just a tiny trailer on a little plot in the woods, but it was his…his place in the world. He wasn’t made to live around people…in town, even if their garage was just on the outskirts of a one stop light community with a bar, a general store, a gas station, and post-office. It was too much for him.

“Yeah…takin’ up residence in that tin can of yours out in _Deliverance_ made you think you’re better than everybody…been struttin’ ‘round like the King of Siam, waiting for us peons to fetch you a sweet tea and pop grapes in your mouth…and I ain’t doin’ it anymore…”

Brushing his shaggy hair behind his ears, Daryl sighed and headed back to the garage proper, grabbing a shop towel, throwing it over his shoulder, prepared to start his day. He wasn’t quite sure who the _us_ was in the equation his brother was griping about…Merle calling him out for being late when it wasn’t even nine yet. Didn’t matter. It was just Merle.

“And here I am, all alone, you left me high and dry here with no ride…”

So that’s what this was all about. Merle feelin’ sorry for himself, still hovering in the office doorway, sulking.

“Ain’t none of that my fault. You were the one who got yourself arrested. You lost your license. Nobody was pouring booze down your throat. I didn’t have nothin’ to do with you bein’ an idiot. B’sides, you literally live fifty foot from the city limits.” Daryl pointed impatiently through the wall down the road they couldn’t see. “Population sign’s right out there. You wanna go somewhere, I suggest you hoof it.” Merle looked like he just shot him in the face, didn’t know what to do with Daryl’s impertinence.

Truth be told, Daryl didn’t know what to make of himself neither.

“That truck, was that an out-of-towner?” Daryl moved quickly to change the subject, knowing the only surefire way to get Merle in a better mood was to let him tell a story…especially a story ‘bout women or anything with a motor. From what Daryl saw, this was a story about both.

And his assumption that she was an _out-of-towner_ wasn’t much of an assumption at all. Might not have been driving a fancy car, but from what he saw of her, she didn’t look like one of their regulars, just some hapless girl that broke down and didn’t have any other choice. He and Merle were good at what they did…better than good, but they weren’t exactly considered part of polite society.

“Out-of-towner…yeah. She was a Georgia peach of the sweetest variety, but not from around these parts.” And sure as sunrise, Merle took the bait and forgot his sour mood, a quick change in their repartee. “Old truck just slipped a belt.”

“You rip her off?” Daryl questioned, part serious, part jest, not sure one way or another, not sure why he cared about the girl he almost ran over, a customer they’d never see again.

“Hell, baby brother, I’m a gentleman. I didn’t charge her nothin’. Poor little thing was cowering in here, looking like she thought I was gonna eat her alive. Not that I would’ve minded.”

Yep, definitely in a better mood, Merle’s tongue flicking crudely between his lips leaving Daryl shaking his head.

“Don’t shake your head at me. If you saw her, you’d wanna squirt your cream in that sweet little peach of hers.”

“Shut up, Merle!” Dammit, didn’t he have any respect. What in the hell was he supposed to say? And why in the hell was he getting so worked up about it? Turning away…he was never like that…so confrontational.

“Easy there. Don’t go gettin’ your panties all in a bunch!”

All he could do was walk away and leave Merle to have a hearty chortle to himself.

It wasn’t so much being observant as it was the morning sun breaking through the high, dusty window sparking a glimmer on top the cancerously rusted red tool chest that caught his eye. Wasn’t nothin’ in their shop that glittered like that, reaching for the slim, jeweled thing.

_What the hell…?_

Daryl turned back, held out the phone encrusted in baby blue rhinestones for Merle to see. 

“Huh. Lil’ Miss Sweet as Sugar Tits must’ve left it behind.” Merle showed mild interest for the expensive little gadget. Neither of ‘em had any use for cell phones, iPods, none of that shit. “Don’t worry, she’ll be back for it soon enough. These kids nowadays…they’re tethered to their phones. Gotta be connected to the Twittershpere and Instachat to feel like they’re alive and relevant.”

That was something Daryl never got. Saw lots of twenty-somethings in their PC hybrids blowing through this beautiful part of Georgia, stopping on their road trips just long enough to take fifty selfies but didn’t even take a second to enjoy, explore, or experience what the world had to offer…all the simple things that didn’t cost nothin’ but were worth everything. What was that picture worth when there were no memories to go along with it?

“But if she ain’t back by nightfall, I know a guy who’ll pay a pretty penny for it.” Just when Merle had the smallest flicker of a redeeming moment…didn’t charge the girl for his time or labor fixing her truck, he just as quickly showed his true colors again.

“It ain’t yours, Merle.” Wasn’t ever gonna be able to instill a sense of right and wrong in his brother, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t gonna call him on it.

“Hey…hey, hey!” Merle going into persuasive mode bridged the distance in a few long strides, grabbing Daryl by the arm as he turned to walk away. “I’ll even give you a cut…a finders few. Hell, we can split it.”

“It ain’t yours.” Daryl pulled free, shoving the phone in his back pocket for safe keeping. He wasn’t a thief. Was trying his best to make a trustworthy business. But more than anything, Daryl had a code.

* * * * *

Daryl hated days that dragged on with no end in sight. Didn’t hate his job, far from it. It was one of those things in his life that actually gave him a sense of pride, purpose, and accomplishment. Would just rather be keepin’ busy, but it was one of those days. The only business they had before lunch…well, with the exception of the girl and the truck...was Lottie Holland comin’ in for an oil change, _surprise-surprise_ , and Merle’s day got considerably better. Daryl did the job…always did. Lottie came in for more maintenance than her new Hyundai could ever need, but it wasn’t really the car needing the maintenance…Merle and Lottie goin’ out back for a little _in payment for services rendered_. She wasn’t sleazy…not at all, at least from what she showed the rest of the world of her picture perfect picket fence life. She was definitely slummin’ it; Merle was her side piece, and she was playing her old man for a fool. Daryl would never understand, but Merle…Merle charmed the panties off the women where as Daryl was generally content to sit in the dark corner of the bar nursing his whiskey and keeping to himself, or better yet, now that he had a place of his own, staying home. Couldn’t lie…not to himself, but there were times he was lonely…wouldn’t mind having someone…not like all of Merles _someones_ , but somethin’ real. Wouldn’t dare tell Merle that. Wouldn’t admit that to no one. Not that it mattered. That just didn’t seem to be in the cards for him…

Just feelin’ a general disgust for the day, Daryl furrowed his brow and poked at the soggy bologna sandwich he’d found in the fridge sittin’ on a paper plate on top the hodgepodge receipts and purchase orders that littered the creaky metal desk. Restlessness got a grip on him. The muggy heat of the Georgia summer wasn’t doin’ nothin’ to help neither…cooped up in the shop, the sticky, stifling air suffocating him. Felt a short buzz by his ass…like a wasp got caught in the back of his coveralls…‘til he remembered the phone he’d shoved back there. Must’ve been some sort of alert or notification the girl was getting…that’s how these fancy phones worked, wasn’t it?

Fishing it out, he should probably just stow it away in his locker…didn’t wanna destroy something so fragile and valuable, and sitting on it would most likely crack the damned thing. Putting it aside on the desktop until he decided he was finished with the lunch he wasn’t gonna eat, the screen came alive from being touched or jostled or whatever it was…alive with a picture of an attractive brunette woman smiling so wide it hurt and…a pale blonde girl hugging her, the hint of a demure smile caught at the corner of her soft pink lips. Closing his eyes, Daryl could see a vision…the girl who scurried away without turning around, running in front of his bike…he knew her face now, could see her turning back to him, wavy blonde hair wisping all around her, lips parted in surprise, icy blue eyes wide like a doe in the headlights. He remembered a moment that never existed, breath all caught up in his chest…like something changed.

Not that he had any idea what he was actually doin’, but being the observant type, watching people around him wherever he went, Daryl swiped his finger across the screen like he’d seen a hundred people do, not knowing what he was gonna find or even what he wanted to find, but just knowing he had no control to stop himself, something more than boredom driving him…intrigue. And it took a lot to intrigue Daryl Dixon.

He hesitated over the little rainbow square…icon…app…yeah that was it…prominently on the screen. _Instagram_ clearly printed under it. Might not have a cell phone of his own, but he wasn’t an idiot. Saw enough on TV, in ads, heard people talking…that’s where you laid it all out for everyone on God’s green earth to see, pictures of yourself, your life, what you were doing, who you were with etc., etc., etc. to prove you were _living_ an exciting life. He shouldn’t have tapped the icon. It wasn’t his phone. It wasn’t his account; it was an invasion of the girl’s privacy, but then again…the whole point of this Instagram thing was about sharing. He wasn’t gonna see nothin’ she hadn’t put out there for the rest of the world to see.

* * * * *

This social media thing wasn’t anything at all what he expected, scrolling down past selfies that were clearly not the girl’s, inspirational bible quotes, and some girly cowboy boots….nothin’ that was ever gonna spark any sort of interest in Daryl but realizing pretty quick these weren’t her posts. These were what other people posted that she looked at. Scanning the bottom buttons…a house…home…that was where he was, it was highlighted. A little magnifying glass…that had to be search. A plus sign…maybe that meant adding a post, something he wasn’t even gonna dare to hit. Not at all what he was concerned with. A heart…whatever that was. At the very bottom right, there was a tiny circular icon…all he could make out was a blonde haired girl. That had to be it, tapping and anxiously holding his breath.

_Open Sesame…_

It was her…her account….her pictures at least.

A small profile picture up in the corner, the enchanting pale-haired girl with a guitar…couldn’t really make out all the details, but there was no doubtin’ it was her.

At the center top of the screen:

_211 Posts. 549 Followers. 230 Following._

549 people followed her…was that a lot? Daryl didn’t have anywhere near 549 friends…didn’t even know if he could name 549 people he’d met in his life.

_beth_greene._

Her name was Beth Greene…Beth. It echoed in his head in his own voice though he didn’t say it out loud, wondering what it sounded like in her voice…what did her voice sound like?

_Singer. Songwriter. Simple country girl._

She was a singer…that meant her voice had to be pleasant…pleasing…beautiful. Just as beautiful as…no, he wouldn’t even let himself think it.

_“Faith is to believe what you do not yet see; the reward for this faith is to see what you believe.” ~St. Augustine_

So, she was a Christian. Wasn’t nothing wrong with havin’ values…a code.

Some little cartoon pictures of musical notes and crosses gave it all a youthful, cheery tone.

Again, it wasn’t nothin’ that he expected…maybe in the best way. Scrolling back first to what he assumed had to be the older posts, Daryl aimed to form a picture of the story of her recent life…this girl who was a mystery to him. There weren’t actually very many pictures of her...and those there were, he couldn’t really see her the way the thing growing inside him needed…longed too…just a grid of tiny images. More than anything, it looked like she shared pictures of bucolic country life, pictures taken with an artful eye.

There was a black and white of an old, white haired man and a woman in a printed floral dress on a porch in rocking chairs holding hands…looked like they had no idea she was snapping their picture. The man…he was looking away and smiling. The woman, there was no question he was the love of her life.

Some cattle grazing in a field framed creatively by dogwood trees in bloom.

A pair of muddy cowboy boots left at the bottom of a staircase and the tracks they left behind on the scarred hardwood floor.

And then there was the girl…there was Beth with cupcakes and candles…looking like she was fightin’ a childish grin. Wished he could see her eyes…Knew they would be filled with joy. Wished he could just see her better, letting his finger linger over the image which suddenly popped, gave him exactly what he wished for…the picture as large as it could ever get on the screen. The girl with impossibly big eyes…he couldn’t see the color in the lighting, but he knew they were blue…icy blue…from the picture on the phone with the dark-haired woman. Below it, a caption…more insight into her life:

_My Love got me sparkly cupcakes. Happy Birthday to me!_

She’d had a birthday recently. She looked so young, but there was no doubt she looked much younger than she actually was.

The caption though…it took him a minute, but it hit him hard…couldn’t explain why. What knocked him…heart hitting the pit of his stomach… _My Love_ …

Beth had someone in her life. Whatever… 

Shaking it away…reading what else she wrote…

_Pound sign…ilovecupcakes_

Oh…that must’ve been a hashtag…

Her picture got fifty-three _likes_.

It was easy enough to figure out how to navigate back to her main page, obsessively hunting for a picture of a man…yes…there she was with him…country kid in a trucker hat…hesitated in tapping on that one, already narrowing his eyes at what he was about to read…

_Me and my big brother, Shawn._

It took him a second to process…but suddenly his sense of dread and jealousy dissipated. That wasn’t her lover…not her boyfriend. It was her brother. Daryl _hmmphed_ to himself in amusement reading her hashtags.

_#bigbrothersareannoying #shawnisannoying #areallbrothersannoying #ilovehimanyway_

And there were no other pictures of men except the elderly man who Daryl quickly learned was her father.

Tapping each picture, there was no more mention of Beth Greene’s _Love_. Had she been through heartbreak? Had she gone through and deleted all evidence that he existed except for that one missed mention?

There she was…on stage in ripped up jeans, cowboy boots, and a ruffly purple blouse holding her guitar.

_Thanks to everyone for coming out to my first concert ever at @holygroundscoffeehouse and helping me get through my first-time-performance jitters._

_#bethgreenesings #bethgreenemusic_

Suddenly after that, Daryl noticed the number of _likes_ started going up…that picture and each successive picture, where before there were thirty to fifty _likes_ , after that concert, they were safely in the hundreds, some near two. And how could they not…like her…the big proverbial social media _They_. She was like a little ray of sunshine.

Getting up near the top, there were just three more posts left. An exquisite picture taken of Beth…from behind…he was thinking her name like he knew her now…sitting in tall grass looking down over a big, old white farmhouse…sun setting in waves of pink and purple on the horizon.

_Daddy told me it’s possible to have roots and wings. No matter where I go, home will always be home…_

_#spreadyourwings #newapartmentallmyown #beiteversohumble #noplacelikehome #leavingishard_

Well, she was old enough…mature enough…that she was leaving home, but there was a sadness Daryl wished he’d felt in his life…a longing for family, for a home he actually missed…a home that was hard to leave behind, a home and family he wanted to return to.

The second to the last post wasn’t a picture at all… but a quote typed out on a clean, white background. The second to the last post wasn’t a picture at all… but a quote typed out on a clean, white background. “Sometimes the Person You Fall For Isn’t Ready to Catch You.”

If that wasn’t enough of a clue to what the poor thing had gone through…

_Taking a break from social media to gather myself **.**_

 **** _#heartbroken_

If he knew who the prick that broke her heart was…fuck…he wanted to beat him to a bloody pulp. An intense protective urge stealing all his sense…so angry that someone hurt her like that…how could someone…breathing deep…realizing how tight he’d clenched his fist, knuckles turning white on the table beside the phone.

The final picture of her…it was the thing that brought him back to center. It was the same as her profile picture but big enough to actually see. Clearly a professional shot. She looked so melancholy there with her chin resting on her arms crossed over the top of her guitar…and he would think it now because there was no avoiding it. She was the saddest, most beautiful creature he’d ever seen.

_Come see me in concert tomorrow night, 7 pm at the Peach Tree Street Depot in Atlanta and Saturday night at 7 pm at the Tree House in Savannah, GA. Tickets available at the door. Meet and greet after concert. See you there!_

_#bethgreenesings #bethgreenemusic_

Glancing up at the date it was posted, tonight was the _tomorrow_.

Tonight…

Merle wasn’t tryin’ to be sneaky or nothin’, but coming in the office, he caught Daryl off-guard…a rare occurrence. Quickly standing, almost knocking his chair over, Daryl shoved the phone back in his pocket before Merle saw he’d been snooping and never let him live it down.

“Hey, you gonna eat that?” Merle’s chair scratched across the dull industrial flooring, Daryl moving to make his escape. “Hey, Daryl…I said, you gonna eat that?” Merle practically growling at him, didn’t like to be ignored.

Looking to his forgotten sandwich, Daryl finally managed a reply.

“Nah…I ain’t hungry…”

Merle wasting no time greedily grabbed for Daryl’s discarded lunch.

He tried to tell himself it was the heat…the reason he staggered away in a haze…but Daryl knew himself better than that. Couldn’t lie to himself, realizing something he couldn’t understand. Beth Greene, a girl he’d never met, had an inexplicable hold over him.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ~Author's note: Thanks for checking back for chapter 2! I hope you enjoy. We're not to any intimacy yet, just trying to establish where Daryl and Beth are as people in these first two chapters.~

The jitters weren’t any better than the first time she counted down the long minutes before stepping on stage for a real concert…even if it had just been a coffeehouse gig, it was real to her. Maybe tonight her anxieties were even worse. The Peach Tree Street Depot was a bigger venue than Beth could’ve ever hoped for; it would draw more people just based on its hip vibe than she ever could alone. The historic little train station on the edge of Atlanta proper had been refurbished and converted into a bar and stage catering to up-and-coming indie artists and all the young music connoisseurs ravenous for the newest thing on the scene. Sure, she was an indie artist, but she could hardly be considered _up-and-coming_ …not by any means. And she had absolutely no idea what the reception would be like. Any confidence she may have had that tonight would be a good night had crumbled….maybe she never even had any at all.

Her day so far leading up to this moment perched in front of a dimly lit mirror backstage, fumbling with black eyeliner hadn’t gone anything like she anticipated…or hoped, but hope was in short supply lately. In fact, the last few weeks…month had been nothing less than overwhelming, real life hurtling at her with unforgiving velocity, some good…but most of it hadn’t been all that pretty. All of it had been emotionally draining. Just as Beth spread her wings, moved out on her own, and started pursuing her dreams…realized that people out there might actually liker her music after what she thought was a catastrophic first performance, she found out in the cruelest way Zack was cheating on her. An Instagram post by a friend of a friend…Zack in the background of a party-pic making out with a girl sitting beside him on the couch, another in his lap sucking on his neck. So stupid…so naïve…singing in church choir next to someone for four years apparently didn’t tell you shit about their morals.

Maybe she should’ve known when his attitude changed when she didn’t follow him to college after she graduated. Maybe the initial distance was her fault, but college wasn’t her path…it wasn’t going to lead to her passion. There were times after she made her choice and was happy for it that he seemed to insinuate she was inferior when she chose not to apply instead of supporting her. While college may have never been her dream, that didn’t make him any more of a person. In recent weeks, he’d grown even more distant, yet at the same time all the more needy…as if he resented that anyone was paying her any mind at all, sought to be the center of attention himself…her attention, everyone’s attention. It seemed that when she booked her first gig and got an awesome little review in the local paper…well…maybe that was the end. Now he apparently thought he was some sort of community college lothario…thought he could get away with two-timing her…make that three-timing, was that even a thing…because he went to school two counties over. Playing the big man on campus when he proved to her that he was not a man at all. Deep down, Beth knew he’d turned into something she could never reconcile herself with…but that didn’t make the sting of betrayal any easier to accept. Didn’t stop her from fearing there was something wrong with her, that she was lacking…broken and unlovable. The world…the life she was left with felt so big, scary, and lonely where she was small and totally insignificant, even worse, ashamed because she’d been so stupid. There had been red flags for a long time, but somehow she’d failed to recognize them.

This morning had been no kinder to her than the last few weeks. It’d been a long drive from her new apartment to Atlanta, but she set out even earlier than she needed to so she could spend a few hours in the city alone, surrounded by people but entirely anonymous…just have some time to be before her day really started, but that didn’t happen. She broke down in the middle of nowhere which was definitely saying something since she grew up in the middle of nowhere and, to a certain extent, still lived in the middle of nowhere…just a different nowhere. The mechanic at the shop…he’d looked all surly and intimidating, but the middle-aged man had been kind enough not to charge anything for the repairs on her truck, Beth thinking that perhaps she’d crossed paths with one of those rare good people you still ran into every once in a while. But the way his narrow grey eyes fixated on her…the way he leered at her with his teeth…not quite a smile…disconcerted Beth, leaving her nervous and 100% sure she absolutely did not want to know what was running through his mind. More than ready to run after she said her polite _thank you_.

And the bitter cherry on top of it all…she’d lost her phone. She wanted to call her sister, Maggie, who couldn’t be at her show. Maggie left their little town behind the year before and moved to Detroit with her fiancé, Glenn. Even though it felt like they lived a world apart, Beth knew Maggie was always just a phone call away with her love and support. In fact, nobody she knew…none of her family…could come to her show tonight. A bar wasn’t exactly Mama and Daddy’s scene, and her big brother, Shawn, had to work. Now she couldn’t even call Maggie…it was destroying her and any tiny speck of confidence she might’ve been able to gather.

Come to think of it, maybe she was glad her damned phone was gone though…damned social media. All it brought was heartache. Yes, it was a blessing, she decided, remembering the shame she felt…how foolish she’d been, so very naïve posting all those pictures gushing about her love for Zack even at a time when their romance was just tepid. She gave her all to him anyway…maybe even keeping up appearances for herself. The last picture posted the same day she discovered he was a cheating bastard…forced to go back and delete what looked like a picture-perfect relationship…it felt like erasing the last year and a half of her life. And she was nothing less than masochistic…torturing herself by looking at Zack’s Instagram before she blocked him. Once he learned the jig was up, he didn’t delete her pictures, but pictures of new girls popped up like weeds, and Beth was nothing more than just another notch on his social media belt. He’d hash-tagged her name…mentioned her like it was his mark of ownership, his brand…the whole mess leaving Beth feeling nauseous, disgusted, and marked for life. It was all a brutal lesson on being an adult.

Trying again with the eyeliner, hands trembling…maybe from unbidden emotion or lack of experience with heavy makeup…frustrated at the tears welling at the corners of her eyes…

“Don’t do that…”

“Oh…” Beth startled, barely able to avoid stabbing herself with the liquid applicator.

“Sorry…I knocked…” Jesus, in all his awkwardly confident splendor, pointed back towards the door while simultaneously sweeping his glorious chestnut mane back from his face. “…but you didn’t answer soooo…”

Beth smiled through her almost tears, holding it close to heart that she wasn’t actually alone; Jesus was with her. Sniffling back the emotion while her upbeat companion dragged a spare chair beside the mirror, taking a seat facing her, Beth attempted to compose herself. Jesus…he was so beautiful, sometimes it was hard to look at him for too long… blue eyes that were prettier than hers. But what made him the most attractive was despite his confidence and the fact that Beth was almost 100% sure he had ADD, Jesus comported himself with confidence, but never conceit.

“Just be yourself. They’ll love you. You should put your hair up…the ponytail with the braid in it…like the last time you sang…”

Meeting Jesus was one of the good things life had thrown at her in the chaos of the last month. Perhaps it was even the most fateful thing to happen in her otherwise ordinary young life. A man desperately in need of a caffeine fix happened upon the area church collective coffeehouse that gave Beth her very first opportunity…who would’ve guessed…

_It was a disaster…a complete and utter disaster. Two false starts on the very first song of her very first set on the tiny coffeehouse stage that was barely big enough for the small perimeter around the microphone and the old upright piano…leaving her feeling claustrophobic even without walls. She’d nervously giggled her way through the moments her voice wouldn’t come out following the opening chords…the music was there, but the lyrics hesitated, tickling in her chest, afraid to emerge. She expelled a tiny, breathy giggle but truly she’d wanted to throw down her guitar and run away. The stage light fixed on her the entire time she stood in front of that microphone…it wasn’t all that bright, but the heat it produced left her faint…on the verge of woozy. Maybe it wasn’t the light at all…flushed and overheated…stage fright. Beth never considered she might not be cut out for performing, singing in the church year after year, unafraid of the congregation, even when every eye was on her during solos. But singing for God and his flock, surrounded by the whole choir…people in front of her and behind her that she’d know for her entire life, didn’t even begin to prepare her for an audience of barely twenty patrons at Holy Grounds Coffee House. She finally got through the worst of the fear, closing her eyes tight, letting the music take over, flowing through her body…from her core to the tips of her fingers, the joy of song tingling through her veins like her life’s blood. By the time she seated herself on the piano bench for her last…favorite piece, fingertips caressing the cool ivory keys, greeting them like they were beloved friends, Beth forgot that anyone was watching. Forgot that anyone else even existed…lost in the abandon, the euphoria of the one thing she positively knew she was born to do…to sing._

_Waking up to the reality…the last notes made words spilling over her lips…a beautiful silence like everyone taking a deep breath followed…then applause and whistles…earnest applause, at least she hoped…Beth sighing in relief and reveling in her moment. But stepping away from the piano…she was an awkward child again…did she take a bow…what was she supposed to do…?_

_“Thank you…” Nervously eeking out the only two words she seemed to be able to recall, cringing when she did some sort of dip-curtsey…another breathy giggle into the microphone laced with all of the nervous anxiety of the true amateur she was…no denying. Beth almost tripped over herself, even leaving her guitar behind on the stage, making her retreat to the employees’ lounge they let her use as a dressing room._

_Didn’t shut the door behind herself…that was too complex an action…just found a place to lean up against the wall beside the door where no one else from the coffeehouse could see her, lowering her head and trying not to hyperventilate…felt like she just ran a mile. Heart pounding out of her ribcage…it was all over now, but she escaped so quickly that the panic was just now catching up with her._

_“You done?” There was no inflection in Zack’s voice…what seemed to be very little interest at all, Beth lifting her head to find him seated in a brown folding chair, feet propped up on the table…not seeing his eyes, only the top of his head…his sandy, close cropped hair. He was glued to his phone._

_“Did you watch…?” Beth was almost afraid to hear his answer, disappointment creeping up in her chest._

_Just looking for a little encouragement…maybe some praise or support…but didn’t want to come off like she was fishing for compliments…just something from the person closest to her._

_“You sounded good, babe.” It was a flat compliment followed by a long silence and a rapid twitter of thumbs across his phone’s keyboard. A smile would’ve been nice, a hug even better, but he didn’t even look up. “I watched the first of it. Took some pictures. You looked so hot. I wanted to get them posted on my Instagram so everyone could see.”_

_Finally there was something genuine in his words when he said she looked hot, but that in itself did nothing to warm Beth, a discontented sigh her reply that he didn’t even seem to notice. Now, more often than not, Zack was tethered to his phone…social media posts, updating his status, looking at everybody else’s life, bragging about his while Beth just wanted to live a little. Sure…she had an Instagram account…liked to share special moments in her life, beautiful pictures of all the things that made her happy. She even liked sharing moments of them together, a young love that she hoped would blossom into something real, mature…something she wanted so badly. True love. Beth was also trying to figure out how to use social media to promote herself…how it would play a role in her music, but in the time she’d made a total of around 200 Instagram posts, Zack was close to surpassing 2000. Life was meant to be lived…not to be an everyday show-and-tell like they were school children. More than a little exasperated at the lack of any attention at all, Beth started out the door to retrieve her guitar so they could head out but stopped dead in her tracks at the mouth of the dark hall. Everyone was still out there, milling around with coffee in hand, chatting…people flitting from group to group._

**** _“Hey.” There was nothing threatening about the greeting, but Beth started at the unexpected notice she drew as she barely crept out of the safety of the dark hallway, thinking maybe she could slink up on stage and grab her guitar unnoticed._

_The slender man stepped away from the wall where he’d been leaning, presumably waiting. Combing his long hair back over his head with practiced fingers, caught half in the dark, illuminated half in the light still radiating from the stage, he was cool and calm as fresh drink of water._

_“Hi…” Beth fumbled, nervous, caught unawares…shy of the whole meeting new people thing._

_“Don’t worry, I don’t bite,” smooth as silk. This man, he was tall, elegant, handsome to the point of being ruggedly pretty. His beard hid what she assumed was a fine-boned face and high cheekbones…and striking blue eyes that reveled their depths when he cocked his head towards the light. “I’m Paul. Paul Rovia.”_

_Offering his hand, Beth slipped hers into it, wondering if he could feel her still trembling…yes, he could…cheeks raised slightly, almost a smile, but not mocking. Not at her expense._

_"Beth Greene.” She managed in return._

_"Beth Greene.” He repeated her name, taking it in, taking her in. “You’re beautiful. You’ve got a brilliant voice.”_

_She hadn’t noticed that he was still holding her hand until his pulled away, leaving him suddenly turned shy…gone was the charismatically alluring, confident man…a brief vestige,, his face tipped down, shaking his head as if he’d embarrassed himself. His words had escaped so earnestly, any pretense of formality between them disappeared, only what Beth sensed to be the truth left behind, and Beth lived her life by the value of truth. Despite that natural affinity, she blushed away from the unbridled praise._

_“My friends call me Jesus.” Beth giggled a little and hated herself for it…but he did look very much liker her vision of Jesus…Jesus Christ that was. “And I would very much like for us to be friends.”_

_He moved with smooth grace, slipping something into her hand…the hand she hadn’t dropped when he retracted his._

_“You’re going to need some professional shots for your portfolio. If you don’t have a photographer already, I would be happy to help you out.”_

_Focusing on the matte black business card, tilting it to the light, revealing the raised glossy lettering:_

_Paul Rovia. Photographer. Savannah Georgia._

_And all the rest of his pertinent professional information._

_“I’m based in Savannah, but I’m in Atlanta a lot. I can even come to you.”_

_Swiping a finger across the velvety card stock, Beth sank her teeth into her bottom lip, restraining herself from instantly accepting his offer. Looking up…looking him in the eye did nothing to dissuade her from the urge…there was something good…something authentic and trustworthy in him. But Beth wasn’t stupid…didn’t want to be naïve…knew the abuses young women so often suffered just trying to get a start in the music industry. She wanted her dreams to come true, but not at the cost of sacrificing her integrity. It would be of her own merit or not at all._

_“You think about it and let me know. The offer stands.” He could no doubt sense the trepidation in her and wasn’t the kind of man to push it. “Check out my Instagram, my website, all my information’s on my card. You’ll find a list of clients on my website if you want to contact some of them for references.”_

_“Thank you.” Beth composed herself enough to flash him a soft smile._

_“So, shouldn’t you be starting your meet and greet?” Quickly focusing again on her._

_“My…my meet and greet? I didn’t…” There had been no meet and greet planned. She didn’t expect so many people to come and watch her performance much less want to meet her._

_“What do you think they’re all out there waiting for? They want to meet the fresh new talent in town.”_

_“I…I don’t think I can…I…” Attempting to beg off._

_“This is your chance. Meet some people. Take a few selfies. Meet and greets are a new artist’s best friend. They let the audience feel like they’re connected to you…makes them feel like they know you. And a shining word of mouth review about how sweet and endearing you are…well, that sells tickets. Come on. Meet and greet is over here, folks. Everybody keep an orderly line.” Jesus snapped up her hand, projecting from the shadows before emerging into the stage light, putting her at a tall round table, an unseen moment by people forming their queue._

_Quick as a flash, Jesus had his phone out, arm around her shoulders, snapping a selfie where she no doubt looked like a deer in the headlights._

_“Sometimes destiny needs a helping hand,” he whispered, broad smile spread across his face in what Beth now understood was a staged moment. “Give me a call, and next time you’ll have some headshots to sign.”_

_Leaning in for a quick hug, Jesus both played the fan and was the friend when she needed it the most._

“And I think you’re really going to be happy with the shots from earlier today, especially the ones from out here at the depot with that old truck of yours. They have a really eclectic southern belle vibe.” Jesus had been carrying on a conversation with her while she’d been somewhere else…very far away…still was…

_"He just wants in your pants, for what…a few shoddy pictures.”_

_So excited to tell Zack about meeting Jesus and how well the meet and greet went on their drive home, he all but dismissed the possibility that someone out there might see enough potential in her to be interested enough to help with her career. The blow left Beth struck silent, sliding as far away from him on the truck’s bench seat as she could. Pressed against the door…looking out the window, watching the scenery pass in a blur, she tried her best not to cry._

_“Nothin’ comes for free…”_

Briefly smiling to herself, finishing the braid and pulling all her messy blonde waves up into a ponytail, Beth knew what good people were. She began second guessing herself for a while…when Zack started making her feel very small. But she could still see the goodness in people, and Zack had been wrong about it all. Jesus certainly didn’t want in her pants, and she’d trusted her intuition enough to check out his Instagram and website. There wasn’t a _shoddy_ picture one in that man’s portfolio. He was a true artist behind the camera. The rest was history…recent as it may have been. She came away with a true companion and friend she trusted more than many people she’d know for years.

“I can’t wait see what we get with you in old town Savannah tomorrow.”

Wiping her sweaty palms on the side of her thighs…the black material wouldn’t show, grateful she’d swapped out the fluttery skirt and pretty lace peasant top from her photo shoot earlier and opted for the casually cute black dress. At least if her makeup ran if she erupted into tears, nothing would be the worse for wear.

Jesus turned one of her lip gloss tubes in his fingers, pausing to read the shade out loud.

“Once Bitten, Twice Shy.” Passing it to her. “This one. Keep it soft and pretty, just like you.”

Beth shied away from the compliment. Always raised to be humble and not put stock in beauty, it took Beth a little while to accept Jesus’ praise…it was just who he was. But the last weeks in her personal life had been more than humbling. They took their toll on her confidence along the way…all but lost. That name of the pretty pale pink lip gloss summed up her state of being… _once bitten, twice shy_ indeed.

And she didn’t belong here. Not at all. Her name on that marquee out there beside the front door felt like a sham…or even worse, a joke. The only reason she got this gig was because Jesus pulled some strings, knew some people, and sang her praises. She thought Jesus had been a Godsend, no pun intended…but now she was just in over her head.

“I can’t…I don’t deserve this…I didn’t earn this…” Falling apart, Beth tried to be strong for so long…knowing in her heart the break with Zack was for the best, pouring herself into her music…

“Hey…hey…” Jesus went to a knee close in front of her, lifting her face. “I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone so deserving of a chance. I know you’ve lost something in all this, but he lost more, Beth. You deserve this. Now go out there and take your chance.”

Jesus’ voice…his calm tenor soothed her wounded pride, the things she knew she shouldn’t be crying about…the things she was better off without. But confidence was a hard thing to mend. Frayed nerves were almost impossible to knit back together. Sniffing back the snot from crying…so unladylike…

“But what if they don’t like me…what if they hate my music…I don’t wanna ruin your reputation…”

“God, Beth, I don’t think anyone could rightly hate you. You’re sweet…authentic, as fresh and lovely as a young Taylor Swift…” Brushing a stray lock over her ear, Jesus laughed at what she could only imagine he thought was her silliness. “If anything, you’re going to make my career. Now go out there and show them some of your magic.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ~Author’s Note: Hey Guys! Sorry there has been so much time between chapters. My laptop crashed, and it took me a while to get a new one. Anyway, here is chapter three. I’ve come to the conclusion that I can’t write Beth and Daryl without making them just a little bit complicated, even in an AU. I hope you enjoy. Thank you so much for reading and commenting. It makes my day!~

Sitting back in the parking lot, hiding in the shadows, second-guessing himself, Daryl realized he was wasting a good smoke forked between his fingers, the glowing ember the rare spark of light around him. He’d retreated back to his bike after he saw the _No Smoking_ sign prominently posted by the doors…told himself he’d just have one cig before goin’ in. It was then fate presented him another option…a simpler path…noticed that further back in the lot, that was her truck parked all by its lonesome. Didn’t have to pay ten bucks to do the right thing and give the girl’s…Beth’s phone back. All he had to do was slip it through the rolled down window and leave it safe and sound on the passenger side. That choice left him all wrapped up in his thoughts, forgetting about the cigarette he’d lit up, leaning against the brick wall that still radiated the heat of the day.

The place wasn’t hard to find; he and Merle’d done a fair bit of running ‘round Atlanta when they were younger…stupider, but now, well, even then…they really didn’t belong…felt so much more comfortable in their local dive bars, and not the kind of dive bars the _twenty-somethings_ thought were so fucking trendy nowadays. Dirty fights, strong drinks, sticky bars, and questionable women. But he’d gotten a late start…decided early on he was gonna bring the phone back to Beth but couldn’t let on to Merle that something was up…that he was lookin’ to rush out so he could drive a couple hours in hopes of meeting Beth for God knows what reason. Would never hear the end of that from Merle. It was a quarter after seven when he pulled up…late…she would be on stage, so there wasn’t no hurry.

Just set the phone on the bench seat…no need to embarrass himself awkwardly delivering her phone in a place that wasn’t gonna welcome his kind. But still he was left hemming and hawing…and if the easy option wasn’t easy to go about doin’ then…

_Fuck it._

Flicking the cigarette butt to the pavement, killing its last little ember with a booted toe…Daryl wasn’t here to return a fucking phone. He was here for the girl. There was something in him that just had to see her…in person…an obsession, and he’d never been one to get all obsessed over something.

Daryl had regrets. Lots of ‘em. But there was no question in this case. He’d rather wake up every morning for the rest of his life regretting this thing he planned to do, even though he didn’t know exactly what it was, than regretting not having the balls to walk through that door. He refused to be a slave to a woman he’d never met.

* * * * *

She did…have the voice of an angel. Looking at the pictures on her phone…he’d tried to imagine what she sounded like…his gut telling him it would be beautiful, but this…it was a little piece of heaven. Stepping into the small lobby, she’d caught him…mesmerized him before he even saw her in the flesh where she’d already taken the stage. Turned him into a bumbling idiot, stumbling in the dim light which was usually his element, where he was the most adept…accidentally bumping into a table and ending up on the receiving end of a scoff and glare shot by a perturbed kid with thick rimmed glasses and gelled hair even after his sincere “Sorry, man…”. Daryl didn’t dare attempt to pull up a chair at any of the partially occupied tables like he would’ve done at the watering holes he frequented; each one he passed made him more and more aware just how outta place he was, the herd of man-bun wearing hipsters in skinny jeans like to eat him alive. Instead, Daryl found himself a spot to stand at the back, out of sight leaning up against an exposed beam spellbound by Beth Greene who stood as a mythical siren. The words she sang, they flowed through him…through his veins like strands of liquid silk that reached up and caressed his heart. A soft and unassuming voice…powerful in its authenticity…quietly soulful. He’d lost his ability to understand language but felt her music more truthfully than anything anyone ever told him…any other words he’d ever heard in his life. His anxieties, doubts in comin’ here, feelings of inadequacy…even moments of self-loathing that had plagued him off and on throughout his life…knowing he didn’t belong in this place…everything melted away, ceased to exist, left only with the promise that there was something beautiful in life…maybe even beautiful for him. It was transformative and transcendent…evocative in every way…bigger concepts than a redneck like him should be able to comprehend, but he did.

And she was beautiful…nymph-like, the embodiment of light…all graceful limbs and wavy blonde hair and creamy-pale skin…slight of frame…natural. She wasn’t a modern beauty, thank God for that; she was timeless…classic…a beauty he’d never have been able to touch no matter what decade or century.

The girl’s song faded…claps and whistles erupting around him, jerking him rudely from the melodic lull of some sublime place in between…but reality wasn’t bad at all, where he shared the same time and space with Beth. She said some words into the mic…a “Thank You” and something else sweet and endearing overtaken by a breathy giggle…damn, this creature…this beautiful girl stole all his senses.

Another round of applause ushered her off stage, a man grabbing the microphone….

“Meet and Greet starts in five minutes. Please line up at the table to stage right if you’d like an autographed headshot or selfie.”

Well, that was how he was gonna do it. At least he didn’t have to go chasin’ after her and risk getting his ass thrown out or even arrested for tryin’ to do the decent thing. But he was gonna need at least one shot of liquid courage before he got up the nerve to get in that line, heading to the bar first.

* * * * *

_Dammit all to hell anyway!_

One track mind made him incompetent…couldn’t even get her motel room key into the lock, fumbling like an idiot. She’d tried with it first…had him pinned up against the cheap panel door with peeling paint…not quick enough, so he’d swiped the key or it was all gonna end up going down right there by the parking lot if she had any say about it.

Maybe it wasn’t all his incompetence…even something as simple as a lock and key…well, it wasn’t so easy doin’ behind your back; Beth certainly wasn’t turning him loose…not so much as letting him turn away. And he couldn’t focus on anything besides this otherworldly creature grabbing at his dick through his pants, sucking his tongue outta his mouth, and dragging him down to her by a fist full of hair. Not that he was complainin’ one bit…things just escalated quick…

This was how it always started…met a woman in a bar, ended up in a seedy motel if they were lucky…more likely than not, an alley, crash pad, or back of a car. But nothin’ like this had ever happened to him…a sweet girl like Beth, something more than a simple sating of needs, something more than just chemistry…touched in a way that he didn’t understand. Beth was different. And she made him different.

_He’d wanted to be the last person in line to meet her. Have time to observe her while he waited. Maybe get a few extra seconds to talk to her when his turn came even though he still had no idea what in the hell he was gonna say. Thought he succeed ‘til a group that had been buying drinks at the bar crowded up behind him…much too close for comfort, Daryl, the loner he was, left anxiously shifting weight from foot to foot. When his turn to step forward came, all he could do was stare at her, the blonde girl with impossibly big blue eyes he’d been obsessing over all damn day. Couldn’t look her in the eye…not yet…fixating instead on those full, baby-pink lips framed by porcelain perfect skin. Got lost in her…got tongue-tied too…_

_“Hi…” She spoke first, sounded so unsure of herself; she didn’t know where to go neither._

_But how in the hell was he supposed to find the right words…any words…in the presence of this angel?_

_“Ummm…would…would you like an autograph?” She swept a glossy 8 x 10 of herself to the center of the table ready to sign it, but when he made no reply… “Maybe a selfie…?”_

_He didn’t want none of those things she offered. Neither would ever be enough._

_Some jackass sniggered behind him, Daryl findin’ his senses again and his balls, throwin’ an unforgiving glare over his shoulder at the pack of hipster hyenas preyin’ on the weak…but Daryl wasn’t…weak. Shut their mouths real quick with his assertion of dominance._

_“Uh…” Well, he could make noises again, fishing the glitter-fied gadget outta his back pocket. “I found your phone.”_

_Sliding it across the table to her, Daryl didn’t know how he’d react if she actually took it from his hand…touched him._

_“ My phone…thank you…” Her eyes flicked from him to the phone to him again. “Where’d you…how did you know it was mine?”_

_Oh shit…time for confessions. Wasn’t a liar and wasn’t gonna start being one today. Time to tell it true._

_“Saw who you were on your Instagram. Saw you were gonna be here tonight. Wanted to return it is all.” That last one was only a half-truth…couldn’t stop himself from coming to meet her, and he didn’t regret one painfully awkward moment of it._

_“Thank you…” Beautiful Beth looked up and gave him a life-altering smile, her melodic little voice framed the words again, but there were still questions in them even if she hadn’t asked yet. Scrunching her forehead a little like she was trying to figure something out…like she hadn’t put it together yet, that he’d been on her social media account on HER phone, but she was getting close to piecing it all together._

_Well, that felt like his cue to make an exit. She’d said her ‘thank you’, he’d done the right thing by returning her property. Didn’t know what else to say to her and didn’t know if he had the courage or fortitude to experience her reaction to figuring out he’d been snooping on her phone. That sweet smile was gift enough to last a long time…maybe a lifetime. Daryl didn’t need the memory to get all tarnished, turning, walking away, not planning on looking back._

_The group behind him…they had no problem making animated conversation with Beth, praising her…fawning over her like she deserved…but…_

_“Hey…hey, wait…!”_

_Still walking away even as her voice called out ‘cause there was no way she could’ve been talkin’ to him._

_“Hey…” Warm, tiny fingers grazed his bicep sending his skin rippling and muscles flinching at the unexpected touch._

_Turning to her, she’d left her fans at the meet and greet table to chase after him…turning more than a few heads._

_“Can I buy you a drink or something? I mean…” She fumbled endearingly over her words. “I can’t buy alcohol…I’m not twenty-one…”_

_Damn, she was young, but he knew that already._

_“…maybe some food or something. Will you wait here for me until after…?” Her nervous ramble left Daryl fightin’ his insecurities._

_“This ain’t really my scene…” Scanning the room full of kids ten years younger than him and ten times richer sippin’ on their frou-frou drinks, his reply not meant as dismissive, but it was definitely taken that way._

_“Oh…sorry…I…” She stepped back and wouldn’t look at him anymore._

_“No…I just mean…I’ll wait. I’ll wait outside.” Quick to fix his thoughtless words. Of course he’d wait for her…a girl like Beth asking him to stay._

_“Okay!” She perked up at that. “Do you wanna wait out front…I shouldn’t be too long…or my truck’s parked out back under the dusk to dawn light if you’d rather wait there. It’s an old, blue Ford.”_

_God…that naivety said everything about her…young and trusting and sweet, willing to meet a stranger in a dark parking lot alone. Lucky it was him. He was damn well gonna make sure he waited out there ‘til she made known whatever she wanted him to wait for, he put her in the cab of that truck, and watch her tail lights disappear into the night._

_A tight nod indicating that he’d wait somewhere outside…he’d wait the whole damn night for her._

So few words passed between them…not in the bar, but out in the cooling summer night air where he waited leaned up against the brick wall…same place where he contemplated whether or not to even step foot into the fancy bar. Came full circle. So few words, but he’d hung on every one of hers… ‘cause…

_“Beth…”_

_She came around the corner carrying her guitar case. Looking over her shoulder, maybe looking for him, thinkin’ he’d lit out instead of waitin’, missing what was right in front of her. Said her name so he didn’t spook her, but she startled all the same when he stepped outta the dark into the swathe of light cut out by the all-night light. She opened her perfect little mouth like she was gonna utter his name when it occurred to him, and probably her, that there’d been no introductions. He knew who she was…would’ve know her without even knowing her name….but she had no idea ‘bout him, not even what to call him._

_“Daryl,” he offered._

_“Dar-yl…” Slow and deliberate, she repeated him name like she was committing it to memory._

_Hearing his own name spill across her lips left Daryl’s heart racin’ for no real reason and every single reason._

_Propping her guitar case up against the back fender, Beth worked at the tailgate with no avail but filling the night with the most charming, lady-like noises of exertion he could ever imagine._

_“Here…let me.” Daryl sidled up beside her…closest he’d been to her, catching her scent…she smelled like sunshine…dropping the tailgate that creaked and moaned in protest before it clunked down to its resting place._

_Did she wanna put her guitar in the bed? He could’ve just as easily lifted it up and over for her. But that wasn’t it, Beth sittin’ up on the gate, feet dangling a few inches off the ground, smiling and looking up with those big doe eyes then to the space next to her. He couldn’t and wouldn’t say ‘no’, taking a seat, all sorts of stuff…emotions and shit…knotting up in his stomach, clenching the warm metal beside his thighs with suddenly sweaty palms._

_“The stars aren’t ever as bright here…or in Savannah…as they are at home.” Beth broke the silence with her wistful musings, Daryl looking up at the muted stars overpowered by the city lights._

_“You a country girl?” He knew the answer to that. Even if he hadn’t been digging around in her Instagram account, he would’ve recognized it in her…that innocence, her country lilt…but hearing it in her words…in what world would someone like Beth Greene be sharing her thoughts with him, giving away her longings? Chance brought them under the same stars, and he wasn’t gonna waste it._

_“Hmmm…yeah…” She’d been far away for a second, but then turned to speak to him, all polite like. “Home…the skies are so big there…but I guess it’s not home anymore. I moved away.”_

_And in this moment…Daryl was good at readin’ people although Beth and her reasoning for wanting him to stick around were a little hard to ferret out…well, right now, she was regretting leaving home. Thought it was lost to her._

_“Home’s always home…” That little pearl of wisdom wasn’t actually from experience, rather something he wished would be true…for him._

_It was starting to feel like his own little quiet place in the woods might qualify someday…but right now it still felt incomplete. Never thought of himself as a romantic, but if he ever had someone to share it with…it would be home._

_“Hmmm…it’s been lonely lately…” Beth confessed it to him like he was her best friend…her confidant…her lover…._

_She knew how to put on a good show for everyone tonight, but under the streetlight, the veil lifted whether or not she meant to share that piece of herself with him. That vulnerability touched Daryl in more ways than he could process._

_“That prick who broke you’re heart…he was fucking fool.” Daryl had his own moment of spontaneous admission…not entirely willing, but she needed to know that she was better off alone than with any man who wouldn’t protect her heart and cherish her love._

_She was about to ask him how he knew…didn’t have to be a genius to figure that one out, but stopped ‘cause she already knew._

_“Instagram…” She whispered, maybe just for herself, Daryl dipping his head sheepishly and nodding the truth. He wasn’t a liar._

_When she slipped down off the tailgate, boots clacking on the cracked pavement, Daryl knew it was over. He’d crossed a line…betrayed her… invading this poor girl’s privacy, and she was done with him. Didn’t know what else he expected of her…what he wanted…just wanted it to all last a little longer, but…_

_But she didn’t walk away. Instead, there she was before him, stepping between his legs, uncomfortably close, but damn, he would’ve given anything to have her closer. She was lonely. He’d been lonely all his life. They didn’t say it…didn’t have to. Beth widened her frosty blue eyes at him before blushing away. Daryl bowed his head, trying to hide that loneliness…that weakness. But she saw it. Knew it._

_So soft…barely even there, he didn’t even know it at first ‘til every nerve under his skin noticed all at once…those delicate fingers trailing up his thigh…_

_“We don’t have to be alone tonight…” Demure…a tremor in her voice…so innocently offering herself…or needing him…whatever it was, it was one in the same, Daryl at a loss for words._

_Afraid he would do it wrong…wasn’t used to touching people… ‘specially not people like her, Daryl spanned her softly curved hips with his hands, drawing her closer…needing to see in her eyes that she wasn’t makin’ a mistake. She lifted her chin, lips partin’, begging to be kissed._

_Those lips were just as sweet as they looked…warm and welcoming where his were dry and wind-chapped. She was shy in that kiss, barely parting her lips, Daryl responding with a tenderness that was foreign to him…but it was the only thing he knew to do that was right. Taking her head in his hands, kissing just a little deeper…how in the hell was he ever gonna let go? Saw fallin’ stars behind his eyelids and had butterflies tickling in his stomach…wanted to scoff at himself for being so fucking whimsical, but this was what life was supposed to feel like._

He’d hung on every word of hers… ‘cause…

… ‘cause the thing that touched him so deeply…the thing he didn’t understand right away…he knew it now. He’d found a kindred spirit in life. In Beth.

Finally got the damn door open…didn’t expect it, stumbling backwards into the room…barely caught himself, using the momentum to turn ‘em both around, pull the door behind, and take the lead. If Beth stumbled backwards, he could keep ‘em both upright. If he lost it and went over, they were both goin’ down.

Lights…light…trying to disentangle himself long enough to find a switch along the wall, it would be useful…nice to see for a minute…get his bearings…see her.

But she was goin’ at him at break-neck speed…pulling at him, pushing up his shirt then pawing at his crotch…

“Augph…” Leaving him grunting between pleasure and pain, too disoriented to find the light, his hair obscuring what little he would’ve been able to see in the outside light diffusing through the cheap, gauzy curtains…

“C’mon…slow down…let me…” Hair caught in his mouth…his…hers…he couldn’t tell…saliva dripping down his chin. And she still had a good hold on the hair at the back of his neck.

“Owww…huhhuh…” Beth let up on him, falling back over the edge of a rickety desk, Daryl steadying her with a reassuring hand at the small of her back, pulling her slow and closer…thought maybe he had her settled for a moment…maybe he could…

But just like that, her hands were between ‘em…at him, working feverishly at his belt buckle.

“Hey…hey, slow down a little…” Pulling his chin up so she couldn’t suck his breath away…needed to get some air, finding her fingers between, sliding his into hers, and closing his eyes to experience that simple intimacy he’d never felt before…holding a woman’s hand.

Redirecting her attentions, Daryl drew her slender fingers entwined in his…both their hands to the center of his chest where his heart was thumping frantic beats threatening to break a rib. But damn, she was persistent, couldn’t even take a moment, up on her tiptoes, arm hooked ‘round his neck, assaulting his lips again.

Never been much of a kisser…not good, not bad, just wasn’t ever part of his deal…but if he kissed, he wanted it to feel like that first moment his lips touched hers, sitting on the tailgate of her truck with all the flutters in his stomach that left him feeling confused and forever changed…

This…this felt like a battle.

“Hey.” More assertive this time, not pulling away, just stepping back and forcing her feet to the floor. “Just enjoy it a little.”

Finally got something across to the girl.

She’d been comin’ at him fast and hard. But she wasn’t that woman…not at all. Sure, everyone deserved a good lay every once in a while, even girls as sweet and heartbroken as her. He didn’t have nothin’ to recommend himself as a good lay, but he wasn’t the one did the pickin’. Still…what she was proposing…what she was trying to get herself into, she wouldn’t be able to handle that, and he wasn’t gonna be the prick to prove it to her. It was all bullshit anyway…he understood, could tell when someone was bullshitting ‘cause he did it too…to protect himself. She finally took her own step back, wide-eyed, looking up with fear painted across her face…not afraid of him, Daryl would’ve sensed that in an heartbeat. Just that she didn’t wanna fuck, and she knew it, all her brash bravado trying to cover nervousness…hands that trembled at her sides. This was the Beth Greene who didn’t wanna be alone…would’ve gotten in over her head if he’d been a different man…even a different version of himself if she’d been a different woman. But he didn’t wanna fuck Beth…he wanted her, but didn’t want to fuck her. Wanted something more from it than it had ever been before, even if it was just for one night. Needed something so much more with this kindred spirit.

* * * * *

“C’mon…slow down…”

Those words so raspy…felt like they were grating against her lips, Daryl swallowing a breath and pulling away.

Slow down…

She couldn’t…

Slow wasn’t a part of the equation…because if she slowed down, Beth might have to acknowledge the queer feelings consuming her from the inside out…

_He wasn’t mute, was he? Even if he was, he would’ve tried to communicate with her…this man who stood before her…waited to talk to her and couldn’t manage a word once he stepped in front of her. He wasn’t mute…she was struck just as silent by his broody, intriguingly dark presence. This was her job…cracking her lips open, praying that her voice would emerge to form the semblance of words._

_“Hi…” How was ‘hi’ the hardest word she’d ever had to find?_

_This was where he was supposed to talk…lips were meant for talking…but the only thing he did…chewed at his lower lip._

_Yes…lips were made for other things too…suddenly fighting the urge to sink her teeth into her bottom lip…_

_“Ummm…would…would you like an autograph?” She busied her hands, fumbling with one of her portraits, ready to sign it…but he didn’t have any words for her._

_Silly, silly girl…what, was he gonna hang an autograph in his locker to moon over it before heading off to gym class? No…he was a man._

_Those frighteningly intense eyes…full of blue fire and soul…_

_“Maybe a selfie…?” That offer wasn’t so absurd, was it?_

_Those eyes on her…they were disconcerting and entrancing all in one…_

_He didn’t want any of those things…just one look at him and there was no denying that he wasn’t a fan of her music. But that didn’t mean he didn’t want…_

_‘Would you like me…’_

_No, she didn’t say that one…it played out in her head in some hazy fantasy world where she was brave and uninhibited and not so broken…_

_But his eyes…where there were no words from his lips…they would’ve said ‘yes’._

_“I found your phone.” That voice…gruff and cracking…rusty as a tin can full of nails._

_“My phone…thank you…” She’d decided that losing it was a blessing, but some force in the world thought otherwise…and without knowing what would happen, what words would come next…she was grateful…but not about her sparkly phone. “Where’d you…how did you know it was mine?”_

_A simple question allowed her time to attempt to gather her wits…compose herself._

**** _The details weren’t clear to her…not yet…even as the explanation poured from the stranger. He found her phone…he knew it was hers because of Instagram…did that mean he followed her on Instagram? He didn’t look like someone who followed her…maybe he..._

_Damn it. Say something, anything…that small inner voice inside screamed to be heard… ‘don’t let him leave!’…_

_“Thank you…” No…that was as good as telling him to take a hike…and he did, leaving her catatonic as a pillar of salt._

_She suddenly became that girl who chased after a man…and she couldn’t actually say why…not the true why…only that her heart was pounding a frenzied beat in her chest…like a panic attack…watching him walk away. She couldn’t let him go…_

_“Hey…hey, wait…!”_

_He didn’t hear…_

_He didn’t stop…_

_Reaching out…brushing his arm…skin warm and taut over rocky muscle…touching him, there’d be no turning back._

“Hey…hey, slow down a little…” He took her hand…took her hand like he was her lover, slipped his fingers between hers, drew her hand up over his heart…treated her like she was more than the cheap one night stand she was acting like…but she couldn’t…slow down.

If she slowed down, she’d have to think…her mind racing a million miles a second…thinking about the only experience she had which brought her right back around to Zack…the thing she wanted to rip from her brain. Zack, the only real boyfriend she ever had. He’d been older, and she fell for him quick, but still held onto her virtue. She lost it to him after she turned eighteen…wasn’t ready, but it had been a year…so…it was time. And yes, she considered it a loss…not the giving of a gift. She never really enjoyed sex with Zack…not the way she imagined she was supposed to. Thought it would get better once she learned…got some experience, but instead Beth was left thinking all those women who found pleasure in it or at least talked like they did were exaggerating. Sure, she enjoyed the closeness with someone she thought loved her…the intimacy of it…at least getting there, but more often than not, she just spent the brief moments he was pumping away staring at the ceiling wishing she had stars to count. Something she did learn along the way…how to fake it…

After he betrayed her, Beth started to fear it was her…maybe she was frigid. She never stopped him from taking his pleasure…he never seemed unsatisfied, but he still left. Thought it was something wrong with her until this dark stranger made her abandon all good sense and awakened something deep and needy in her…something that had never been touched. Beth had been turned on before, moist enough that Zack’s mechanical thrusting didn’t hurt her. But Daryl…he just laid his hand on her and she was wetter than Georgia low country in rainy season.

“Hey…” His sharp tone commanded her attention, he stepped back, and she didn’t attempt to stop him. “Just enjoy it a little.” Voice gentling again.

_Enjoy…enjoy it a little…_

Beth swallowed the fact that she never came with Zack or even because of him. He never stopped to tell her to _enjoy it a little_ …was it just her, or had he even tried? The only times she ever came…when she touched herself beneath the sheets. And that pleasure was cold and emotionless…left hollow by the void of intimacy or any real feeling besides disappointment.

Dammit…she didn’t want to think of Zack…no more.

Didn’t want to think of disappointment or cold, emotionless self-pleasure…being alone in her bed.

She wasn’t alone.

And this man wanted her to enjoy…

This man who’s intimidating presence oozed natural confidence that he didn’t even seem to know he possessed…clearly a man who knew what in the hell he was doing but wasn’t cocky about it.

Enjoy…

Enjoy the awakening his touch brought about. No…not just his touch…the way he was, the way he treated her, the words he said to her sitting on the tailgate of her truck…the way he met her first shy kiss so tenderly under the streetlights of Atlanta…that’s what a man was…

She deserved it nice and slow…but if she slowed down, she wouldn’t be so brave…

She wasn’t brave…she’d have to acknowledge she had no idea what she was doing with this man…how she was supposed to go about doing it…

“I…I don’t do this a lot…” Like Daryl couldn’t tell that already…or maybe he couldn’t with as forward as she’d been, trying to hide how inept she was at this…this art of seduction to put it kindly.

“Neither do I…” He dipped his head, shadows cast across his face, shaggy hair too…she couldn’t see him, but…

“Hmmph...” A little contrary giggle, questioning the truth of that…how could he mean it…look at him?

“I don’t.” Snapping at her…defending himself as if she accused him…as if her doubt stung.

She regretted immediately…hadn’t meant to insult him. She wouldn’t have thought badly of him if he did…do this a lot. That’s just how things were now…hookup culture…it had just never been her. Even now, it wasn’t her.

“I ain’t a liar.” That was the truth…this man was no liar.

She didn’t realize it…that she’d turned from him and crossed the room, finding herself at the window, staring out it blankly, not seeing anything really, just gathering her own truth…and that truth somehow became more complicated than she could manage to articulate coherently…or even understand.

“I’ve never done this with someone I didn’t…” Clenching her eyes…thinking on the things she wanted to say, everything she was feeling…“…with someone I didn’t know…”

Weighing the heavy risk of sharing a vulnerability that had manifested itself just within the past hour…deciding that…well, sometimes you couldn’t explain everything, you just had to have a little faith…

“But…it feels like…like I know who you are…”

Like she knew him more intimately than she even knew herself.

* * * * *

“I…I don’t do this a lot…” Her quavering, barely there voice shot through his heart…like she was shying away from him, but her eyes wouldn’t set him free…facing the truth.

It was Daryl who broke the gaze, glancing away like his truth would make him less of a man…that he didn’t go out and fuck a different woman every night…

“Neither do I…” Peering at her through the bangs fallin’ in his eyes.

“Hmmph...” Beth scoffed at him, not believing.

“I don’t.” Repeating it, pride all prickly. “I ain’t a liar.” Softer then…

An audible sigh escaped her, maybe sheddin’ some anxiety…maybe ‘cause the field was suddenly even…Daryl didn’t pretend to know the workings and complexities of women. But somethin’ else took her…made her turn away, take a few steps to the window…Daryl left to watch her shoulders rise and fall with heavy breath. He too took a step towards the window…towards her, ready to tell her they didn’t have to do nothin’. He’d be leaving with a painful case of blue balls and somethin’ even worse…an ache in his chest, but he had honor enough he wasn’t gonna try to convince this girl to have sex with him. Wasn’t who he was.

“I’ve never done this with someone I didn’t…”

Her hesitation halted Daryl…what he was gonna say, and he could fill in the blanks…the words she didn’t speak.

_…with someone I didn’t love…_

_…with someone I didn’t trust…_

He was stupid to think she might’ve felt the inexplicable connection he felt too…

“…with someone I didn’t know…” She continued after a long breadth of seconds. “But…it feels like…like I know who you are…”

A confession that must’ve left her uneasy in a world where most times it was never as simple as a thing bein’ exactly what it appeared…even worse, trusting something you felt or knew but you couldn’t explain. What was that called… _faith_ …

_Who you are…_

Those words she spoke, glancing over her shoulder with innocent eyes…there was gentle courage in her…to have that faith.

…and an invitation in those words too…

Daryl had never been a lover, really had no idea how to go about doin’ it right, how a girl like Beth deserved, but he was willin’ to try. What kind of man would he be if he didn’t?

Not timid, not hiding nothin’, Daryl stepped into her, hooking an arm ‘round her slender waist, hard-on nestled all nice and tight up against her ample ass…probably more flesh there and on her beautifully curved hips hiding under that skirt than anywhere else on her lithe little form.

She shivered at the closeness, but he held her steady, trailing a calloused finger down the stately pillar of her neck, leaning in to kiss the path he’d laid, following his fingers with unpracticed lips…dragging the thin strap off her arm leaving the soft plains of her shoulder bare.

“Please…”

Daryl smiled to himself…a rare smile…her breathy plea arousing…until…

“Not like this. I wanna see you…” That little voice of hers, that almost panicked voice, shook him to the core, stilled by his own contemplations…

What did she mean _Not like this_ …”

That had nothing to do with kissing or touchin’. Fuck, they didn’t even have their clothes off yet, and she was thinkin’ that he was gonna mount her right there at the window?

Protective…

Furious thoughts…

Had she been mishandled by the men…boys in her past? Didn’t they know how to treat her right…at least know how to get her turned on enough so she could enjoy too? Who left her expecting to be used as some fuck toy?

Hell, even he knew how not to be a selfish prick that shoved his dick in a woman the moment he got the urge.

Was it the one who broke her heart or a different one? There couldn’t have been that many…maybe the asshole who broke her heart was the only one…Daryl seein’ fifty shades of red, wishing he could give the little prick what he deserved. But this was about her…

“Damn, girl, we ain’t even there yet…” Growled assurances that there was no way he was gettin’ his dick anywhere near that sweet peach ‘til she was better than good ‘n ready, begging for it…much torture as it was gonna be on him.

She’d tried to turn around in his arms during his lost in thoughts moment…but that wasn’t gonna happen whether he’d been consciously aware or not, shifting his shoulder forward to stop her, pressing a hand to the dingy white wall beside the window to brace ‘em, trapping her tantalizingly close…closer than close. Letting himself touch…remembering to keep it gentle though his hands were rough…exploring…spanning the smooth dip of her stomach, whole hand unabashedly cupping her mound through the soft fabric of her dress. The heat comin’ off her…her little gasp and moan…the way her round ass squirmed all nice and tight up against his straining erection…fuck, he was ready to go off like a fire cracker, stifling his own grunts and groans, diving into the fragrant flesh at the sweet juncture of her neck and shoulder. She smelled like sunshine and lemons…

“Fuck…you taste like…” Sounded like an idiot…a fucking idiot…broke off before he told it true…Beth tasted like heaven.

Rocking into her, kissing deeper, sucking at her skin…eyes open ‘cause he wasn’t gonna miss a damn thing…seeing Beth’s perfectly manicured fingers balling up in a fist clenching the gauzy curtains that obscured the view of the courtyard and blue-lit pool.

“Mmmm…” God, he wanted to devour every piece of her.

That delicate hand of hers kneaded at his where it covered her pussy, urging him on, harder…

Beautiful…so fucking beautiful…lost himself in her, dragging the band outta her high ponytail, that glorious pale blonde falling down like a soft wave…

“Owww…”

It was only a little protest…Daryl mending the wound... “Sorry…” A warm whisper behind her ear, sending a shiver through her even he could feel. Dipping his middle finger into her wet cleft…wet even through her skirt…Beth sucking in a sharp breath, the slight tug at her hair all but forgotten.

Daryl buried his face in that tussled locks at the back of her neck, inhaling her, for the first time finding her small, pert breast through her top. Yep, he’d kinda stolen a base before, but it didn’t count over the clothes, did it? _Hmph_ ing to himself…he was a Dixon. Conventional rules didn’t apply. And Beth wasn’t complainin’ none. Swiping a thumb over her already hardened nipple…feeling it turn absolutely rigid at the slightest touch…taking that perfect swell of her full in his hand…palming…caressing there…all the while reaching down below the hemline of her skirt…

Fingertips trailing up a toned, feminine thigh…

Drawing her dress up…further up…up to the waist, letting himself venture over her prominent hipbone, lingering there a moment before slipping his fingers just under the top of her panties, closing his eyes tight…trying to imagine what they looked like. Would’ve guessed pure white cotton from lookin’ at her, but there was lace around the edge…pretty things for his beautiful Beth. And the curls beneath, downy soft, couldn’t see, but he knew they were blonde. There wasn’t nothin’ unnatural ‘bout Beth, blonde up top, blonde down below…he’d wager his life on it, and Daryl wasn’t a gambler.

Just combing his fingers through her lower curls, Beth’s hips bucked back into him suddenly leaving Daryl wide-eyed and gape mouthed…need, want, pain, pleasure and everything in between. Recovering from the shock…remembering that he wanted so much more than just a quick fuck…hearing Beth’s small voice replay in his mind…

_I wanna see you…_

He wasn’t much to look at…just your average redneck…

But he wanted her to see…

Reaching between ‘em and undoing his belt…could be tricky sometimes…the damned buckle got caught up in the rough, cracked leather…

Freeing Beth who turned to face him as he shrugged his vest off, tossing it on the tattered armchair in the corner…

“C’mon then.” Taking her by the slender wrist, setting her at the end of the saggy mattress, offering himself up like a sacrificial lamb. “Have your look.”

Daryl’s fingers fumbled at the first button of his plaid, cut-off sleeve shirt…fumbled ‘cause this…this was different no matter how much he tried to hold it together on the outside.

Beth saw…

Beth smiled shyly and stood…

Beth unbuttoned successfully where he’d failed, Daryl’s idle hands left clenched at his sides.


End file.
